Week 15 - Peoples Church

www.peopleschurchvancouver.org

Some of our church visits we have been able to slip in relatively unnoticed, others not so much. This week at Peoples Church was a "not so much" visit. There was no slipping in unnoticed. We were warmly greeted by several people as we came in, including a hearty hug from one lady, and then again in the extended meet-n-greet during the service. Not the creepy "we haven't seen a new face in years" greeting, but a genuine "glad to have you and hope you enjoy your time with us" sort of greeting.

PCs auditorium seats approximately 200 (not including the balcony) and this week there were about 100 in attendance, of all ages. As we are discovering with modest sized churches, like PC, this auditorium size allows even a back row seat to be within a comfortable distance from the stage or podium. PC has a fairly large stage that they made good use of with six instruments and five vocalists to lead the music, including an accordion and bongo drums. The lighting was comfortable with plenty of filtered natural light on both sides. Visual technology was used minimally, primarily during the singing time.

After a lengthy opening (about 40 minutes) of very energetic music, during which several people came forward and shared a word of thanksgiving, we were lead in an offertory prayer which everyone read aloud together. This was followed by a time of announcements where the husband and wife pastor team traded playful banter between themselves and with members of the congregation. Definitely a level of comfortable familiarity not commonly found in many churches. Just prior to the beginning of the message children were invited to leave and join a class specifically for them.

Interspersed with plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor, and a few inside jokes, the pastor's topical message explored what it means to "Have faith in God" as stated in Mark 11:22. This was the beginning of a multi-week study and this week focused on the personal aspect of faith in God manifested in healing, forgiveness, and salvation. Using a visual aid of money (faith) and bread (salvation) he demonstrated how faith = a noun and belief = a verb. Faith (money) is the currency by which salvation (bread) is purchased and belief is the transaction (action) when salvation is purchased. In the visual aid he showed how you can have all the money you need, and really want the bread, but until you hand the money over you can't enjoy the bread. Or as James chapter 2 states: "Faith without works is dead."

One thing we have enjoyed in many of the more liturgical services is how the congregation actively participates in the service. PCs service format is much too informal and free-flowing to be considered liturgical but there was plenty of participation through corporate reading of bible passages and prayers, individuals standing and giving words of thanks, and the occasional unprompted "amen" from a congregant. There is something to be said about seeing active engagement of congregants throughout a service.

Week 14 - Salvation Army Church

www.vancouver.salvationarmynw.org/usw_vancouver/church-ministries-main

We have all seen their Red Kettle Bellringers at Christmas time, that harbinger of the coming winter holidays. We may have even shopped at their Family Store, looking for a good deal on some vintage bric-a-brac. Most of us have probably lost sight of the evangelistic, evangelical, roots of The Salvation Army. 

For many years we have lived just down the road from The Salvation Army church and have often wondered if they really "do church" there. Well this week we decided the time for wondering was over and ventured out to join them for their Sunday service. While the SA has a global reach, and they serve people in need throughout our community, their Sunday gathering was a modest 40-50 people. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in heart. We were warmly welcomed by several congregants and many of the leadership. And, yes, the leaders do wear their formal SA uniforms and address each other by their rank, the husband and wife pastor team are both Majors and the assistant pastor is a Lieutenant.

The auditorium seats about 100, is well lit with natural light and inviting. As you might expect music was a big part of the service, a mix of contemporary and traditional music was led by two instrumentalist and four vocalist. Coming from a church where music is provided by highly polished professionals (or near-professional), the servant's heart was evident in those who led us in music, coming with the gifts they had to offer. Some visual aids were used during the contemporary songs, along with hymnals for the traditional ones.

The congregation was a mix of young through old, with several special needs people. Just prior to the pastor's message children were invited forward for a short lesson provided by the assistant pastor and then were excused to the children's class. The pastor gave a spirited message, starting out with a twist by beginning at the back of the auditorium, giving the introduction as he walked down the aisle to the podium. Building on a theme of "Holiness," and drawing from Philippians 2:1-11, he asked the question "What if Jesus lived my life with his heart?" Walking us through the passage he showed us three aspects of Christ's heart: An empty heart - emptied of his glory; An obedient heart - obedient even to death; An exalted heart - raised above all things. His message and delivery was on par with any evangelistic Baptist preacher we have heard, including an altar call accompanied by the song "Just As I am."

The Salvation Army was begun over 150 years ago and has a 125 year history in Clark County. Often times it is easy to think we know an organization by their most public face, like feeding the hungry or housing the homeless. This week was a good reminder that, in addition to these good and scriptural works, The Salvation Army continues to hold true to its foundation of proclaiming the good news of Christ.

Week 8 - Living Hope Church

livinghopechurch.com

This weekend we had plans for a family picture on Sunday (only day we could get all ten of us together) and so we had looked around for a Saturday evening service to attend. Saturday is not new to us as we started attending the Saturday evening service at our previous church many years ago. There are some nice benefits to Saturday evening so we are not the least bit opposed to the idea. A while back, as Loren was looking for potential visit sites near our house, we came across one that was located just down the street and they met on Saturday evenings. Perfect!

You know that thing about "best laid plans?" Apparently that church is no longer in existence. Fortunately right across the parking lot is another church that also meets on Saturday evening, and no we didn't confuse the two. There actually did used to be a church that met in the building we first went to.

Our backup church was Living Hope Church that meets in a former Kmart store. Unlike other re-purposed commercial building churches we have attended, this one still has vestiges of its former use. Using black curtain walls in the main meeting area they are able to accommodate a variety of audience sizes and uses, very functional in that way. On this night the room was set up for about 350 people and there were approximately 100 in attendance. Most likely Sunday mornings draw a larger crowd. Two large projection screens and several flat screen monitors provided easy viewing of the speakers and musicians from anywhere in the room.

As soon as the service started the lights were turned off, with the exception of the well lit stage, and six instrumentalists/vocalists played 20 minutes of rousing songs. Following this the service leader led in prayer, announced several upcoming opportunities, showed a couple of videos and introduced a guest speaker. LHC has recently gone through a major disruption and is currently without a lead pastor so they are utilizing christian leaders, both from within and from outside the church, to provide teaching for weekend services. Lights were raised briefly during a short meet-n-greet just prior to the speaker. Upon reflection, that was the only time we interacted with another person in the room.

This week we had the privilege of hearing Mike Miller, Executive Director of the evangelism ministry Common Ground/Dare to Live. Mike shared the powerful story of how his family came to an understanding of who Jesus is and the gift of  redemption he offers. He connected his story of meeting Jesus to the ministry that LHC has provided to people in the community that are seeking what he did as a young person. Part of Mike's message was to be an encouragement for this community that has recently been knocked down by the former pastor's financial misdealings. In doing so he implied that LHC is the only church in Clark County that is bringing in people seeking Jesus, however they come, without judgement. We took a slight offense to this claim. While we are less than 10 visits into this journey we can say that we have been to several communities that are reaching out to people, where they are at, to help them grow in their understanding of Jesus and his gift to them.

If there is one thing we have learned after a lifetime of living with the body of Christ, it is that no one church community has a lock on reaching people who need to know Jesus. Mike's story was about how several churches his family had reached out too were not able too meet them where they were, one was, and they began their walk with Christ because of that one church. Nothing about his story categorically negates the work that those other churches were doing. We just never know who God is going to work through to see his purpose achieved.